I know some of you do not "grade" in Kindergarten but we are required to use "ABC" grades on report cards. Please help!!
How many papers do you grade & record & how many oral evaluations in each subject area per grading period? Do you grade in Social Studies & Science? Our curriculum doesn't really have any "worksheets" to grade in SS & Sci, do you make up your own tests for these subjects? Is there a site for help with this? I would also appreciate any help with a report card. We use the ABEKA curriculum but not their report card. This is my first year in K and I would like to revamp what was used in the past.

I also use the abeka curriculum. I put a good, very good, satisfactory, or needs improvement grade on every paper that they get. I know it's a lot but I find I can keep better track of them that way, and it shows the parents how well their kids are doing. When the test start up I consider an "A" the same as a very good and a "B" the same as a good and so on. Our report cards don't have science and social studies grades so I don't keep track of them as much. However, marking everything is really for the parents benifit and my own if I'm questioned on a grade (I never have been, just in case). I also use general observation as a big part of the grade.

Please keep responding! I'm really interested in learning from you all! How many "grades" do you collect per subject, per nine weeks to average for report cards? One or two per week, just tests & oral evaluations? ABEKA doesn't have very many oral evals or tests
per nine weeks so it seems there should be more grades included, I just don't know how many.???

I have seen software for grading. Anyone use that in Kindergarten?

Iwag14 - It's so good to hear from someone else that uses the ABEKA curriculum. You mark every paper?! WOW! How do you find the time? Do you record them all in your grade book? And then average all for report cards? How do you have your grade book set up? I try to place a sticker or sometimes just a check mark in the corner so the parents know I looked at the paper but I haven't been "grading" each one. How often do you send papers home, daily, once a week?
What about the tests in the curriculum that are graded, do you include those in total average, do you show them separate or are some papers weighted (how is that done?)? Sorry these may seem "dumb" questions but this is my first time having to grade like this. PK4 was more basic.
Would you mind sharing your report card? I'm trying to look at as many as I can so that I can put a new one together for us. Thanks!

I do put all the grades in the grade book. Our report cards are marked with goods, very goods and satisfactories. Eventhough I put a letter grade on the test I way them the same as the rest of their work. When I average averything I makes the A's and the verygoods worth 4 points the B's and the goods or 3 points and so on.
In my grade book I have a section for Language arts (I put the phonics grades, reading grades, and spelling test grades- I make those up), a math section, handwriting section, a readiness skills section, and a science and social studies section. (I use science, ss, and readiness as an insight to their art grade because they're mostly coloring and I don't like giving grades in art)

Having so many grades may seem like a lot, but this is my first job. I started two years ago, halfway through the year and this is how the teacher before me was recording her grades so i just got in a habbit of following her plan.

Thank you!! You're such a great help! More questions: would you share your daily schedule? Are you half or full day? We go from 8:30-2:45 (we stop at 2:30 to pack up). Also, spelling tests:I was thinking as an intro to begin with giving a sound and them writing the letter, then begin adding blends, then add sight & high frequency words. What do you do and when do you begin? How often? How many words? Do you only teach the sight words in ABEKA or do you add? Do you have a particular order? Science: Do you use the ABEKA, if so, alone or do you supplement? Looking at the children's books it seems to cover what I taught in PK4 with no hands on, nothing to do but look at the pics & occasionally color. Doesn't look too exciting to me so I think I would like to find something else. Your opinion?

I am full day from 8:30 to 3:00. I have some kind of an easy activity on their desks when they first come in (dot-to-dot, playdough, trace and write, color-by-number), Then we do flag at around 9am. From there I go right into the academic work (math, phonics, writing) we have a morning snack at 10am, usually I do the math before the snack and the phonics and writing, unless I feel I need more time with the math. In the afternoon we have a rest time after lunch that will end after winter break (they wont need it anymore). The afternoon is more fun with language enrichment (stories, drama, opposites, rhyming ect...) then SS, science or art. Followed by center time and silent reading. Half way through the year will start reading groups. I like to hold them at 9am for about 45mins. Test wont start until about November. I always hold my test after our morning snack.
I start spelling test soon after the abeka test start. My first couple of test are simple three letter words. I will gradually work in some short vowel four letter words then ad some long vowels as they get more comfortable with them. Then I add in the blends. I never use a blend that has not yet been introduced in class. It's 5 words and 2 bonus words (sometimes a simple sight word is a bonus word). I only pick one of the bonus words for the test. 5 words right is an "A." 5 words and the bonus word is an "A+."
I don't ad on much to the SS curriculum eben though it is just coloring. But I find that I tend to have a very inquisitive conversation with the class as I discuss each paper, plus I have the students try to read the papers which becomes a help when determining reading grades and groups. I do ad a few of my own science units (apples, space, butterflies) and I add to the given topis through poetry and crafts. You'll want to find your own art projects (at least I do, I don't like that book at all)